This Woman in My Life
by Hikako
Summary: A songfic, just something that's been swimming in my head for a while, before I start work on a new story series.


AN: A little songfic before I begin another little series of stories. I don't own Ranma ½ or Phil Vassar's songs. Or the West Wing quote.

The Woman in My Life

By Hikako

Ranma never imagined a single person could fill the void in his life that he didn't even know existed. His mother found out who he was and soon after began to make up for lost time, as it were.

Ranma had never entered a martial arts tournament in the hopes of making someone happy, just to be the 'best.' Sure, his father had been proud of him, or rather proud that he was Genma's son, but nobody had ever been proud of him for doing well instead of being the best. No, he had to be the best or nothing at all; very well or 2nd place weren't an option for Genma Saotome.

Suddenly, Ranma's whole existence changed when, during the annual Tokyo Martial Competition, he looked up into the stands and he saw his mother. Prim, proper, and immaculate Nodoka Saotome sitting high in the stands, smiling widely, and waving a small fan with Ranma's face on it.

_She was there in the stands, come rain or come shine_

_She was the lady that smiled all the time_

_I know times were hard but she never let on_

_No, it wasn't easy but she was so strong_

Soon, with fiancées and weddings taking up most of his time, Ranma didn't have time to keep up a training schedule. The next time the TMC came around Ranma found it hard to beat the favored competitor, a Jujitsu student who had the same look in his eyes that Ranma used to.

The next year, the same student got a lucky kick in and knocked Ranma out of the ring and winning the championship round.

Ranma lay there in a daze, not believing he had lost something in his life, and suddenly the weight of the whole world seem to fall upon his shoulders, crushing him under it. He looked up to the place he knew his parents would be, not really wanting to. Genma had a look of utter shock and disbelief, which Ranma had no doubt mirrored his own expression, but the real shock came from Nodoka.

The ear-to-ear grin was gone, replaced by a slightly less enthusiastic but no less sincere smile, her hand never stopped waving the fan as she cheered on her son. With that, the heavy weight of a defeat fell from Ranma's shoulders with an almost audible sound, and a foreign thought crossed his young mind… second was better than third.

_And she believed in me when I just gave up_

_She took all my worries and she gave me love_

_She rocked me to sleep with a sweet lullaby_

_I thank God, for that woman in my life_

That was the beginning of a whole new chapter in Ranma's life. He didn't fling himself whole-heartedly into every fight desperate to win. He no longer cared if he was the 'best' because, as a wise man once said, 'There is always someone better than you.'

Tournaments came and went, sometimes Ranma came in second or third, sometimes he came in first, and others still he never competed in at all. Genma could take it after awhile, he had raised his son to be the 'best' martial artist, and to watch his son fail, in his eyes, and not care was too much for the patriarch of the Saotome clan. Instead, Akane took his place at Ranma's tournaments next to the boy's mother.

_So many bruises and young broken hearts_

_And ill-fated arrows that all missed their marks_

_And I found a lover like there's never been_

_She my baby's mother and she's my best friend_

_And she believes in me when I just give up_

_She takes all my worries and she gives me love_

_Yeah, she rocks me to sleep with a sweet lullaby_

_I thank God, for this woman in my life_

Ranma remembered how it felt as he watched Akane slowly walk up the aisle. His heart beat like he had was running, his palms were sweaty, yet the room felt colder than a Glasgow winter.

She was beautiful, no doubt about that, dressed in a simple white dress with a small veil over her face. Mr. Tendo was in the front row, balling his eyes out of course, while Kasumi tried to keep him from rushing Akane claiming his baby was too young to be married. Nabiki, for once, didn't have a superior smirk across her face; instead a genuine smile graced her face as she kept a firm hand on Tatewaki Kuno's arm.

_Oh, God._ Ranma thought as he noticed that Akane was almost to the front, and elation ran up and down his body. It was really happening; he was marrying Akane Tendo… who could've called that.

A few years later, Ranma, his parents, father-in-law, and sisters-in-law were crowded around a glass window in the East Wing of Tokyo General Hospital. The women were cooing and making baby sounds that the child couldn't possible hear or understand, the men were smirking and smacking the back of the father (despite the fact he hadn't done anything to deserve such praise), and Ranma could help the grin splitting his face as he read the little pink label on the side of the crib.

Name: Kimiko Saotome

Parents: Ranma and Akane Saotome

Date: 02/24/2003

Sex: Girl

"Pwease Daddy," little Kimi pleaded with her father as they got closer to Auntie Ukyo's restaurant. "Pwease." Her bottom pink lip stuck out and began to slightly shake, her blue eyes grew to impossible proportions, and her little hands clutched desperately to Ranma's hand.

"Okay." Ranma replied in a resigning tone as he changed their destination. Opening the door to Ukyo's he quickly added, "But only for a minute." In as stern of a voice as he could muster.

_Now she's two years old and she's my biggest fan_

_And I'm wrapped round the finger of her little hand_

Ranma struggled to hold his eyes open as blood and sweat poured swiftly down his forehead and into his eyes. The match was in timeout for only two more minutes, while he got medical attention, but Ranma doubted two hours would've been enough to help him. His fists were as heavy as cinder blocks, his arms screamed for relief, and one eye was swelling shut already.

Ranma was about to give up, when something in the stands caught his attention. There, in her usual spot, sat his mother with his wife, each holding one end of a banner with 'Go, Ranma' written across it. Between them, Kimiko sat smiling and waving a fan with his face on it like there was no tomorrow.

Ranma's arms didn't feel tired anymore, his fists felt light as feathers, and when the bell rang to begin the second half of the match… Ranma gave his opponent a bloody forehead… then won the tournament.

_And she believes in me when I just give up_

_She takes all my worries and she gives me love_

_Yeah, I rock her to sleep with a sweet lullaby_

_Oh, I thank God, for this woman in my life_

_Oh, oh, I thank God for this woman in my life_

Exempt from the West Wing:

Josh Lyman: If we do this, it's gonna look like you did it because your daughter asked you to.

Jed Bartlett: Yeah. Josh, in the future when you become a father, your gonna find there are a lot worse reasons for doing something.


End file.
